St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-05-08
Rev. Sam Small breaches an Eloquent
Sermon on Gods Kingdom and
Righteousness.
The Jews Opposed Christ Because He
Promised Liberty of Soul In
stead of Body.
ALI Men, He Thinks, Have Practically
the Same Feeling, that the
Soul Is Immortal.
The Pursuit Of Happiness Limited by
Classes---Christ the Founder Of
Pure Communism.

impressive sermon yesterday morning at
the Hennepin Avenue Nj. +. church,
Minneapolis. The audience was deeply
affected, and many went to the altar
at the close. Mr.. Small said:
L have selected the SD verse of the
9th chapter of the Gospel according to
st. Matthew: But seek We first the
kingdom of God and His righteousness,
and all these things shall be added unto
you" 1t was great disappointment to
the Jews, with their carnal eXpecta-
tons, with their national solicitude for
the re-erectiOn of their government and
the re-establishmcnt of their supremacy
among the nations of the world, when
Jesus Christ came and proclaimed that
He was the Messiah; that He was the
expected Christ, and that He was the
King of the Jews. And when He de-
clined to set up temporal kingdom it
was the first real conception they had
of the purpose and mission and real OBJ
jects of Christ's coming and of the
Messiah'S Office in the world, and it
did not agree with what they wanted;
it did not correspond to their as
pirations, and it made no appeal to their
personal loyalty, and they rejected Him.
spiritual kingdom and you come
promising us liberty of soul when we
want liberty of body; you talk of eX-
alting us to heiIship with you i'll the
kingdom of God hereafter when we
want heirShip to the kingdom of this
earth, and when we want to re-eStabliSh
ourselves in the old position as a favor
tie people of God and have Omnipotence
given unto us in order that the lion of
Judah may rouse himself from the dust
of defeat, and under his omnipotent
paw crush the victorious eagle OF Rome;
you come talking to us about establish
ing an invisible and intangible spiritual
kingdom like this; if you come thus, we
do not want it. We do not feel any
anxiety for that. We do not need it and
as we are" Yet there was something
in the
n DOCTRINE OF JESUS CHRIST.
there was something in His personality,
something in His language, something i'll
the far-reaching purposes of His mind
and heart, something in the true Sacri-
,ticial nobility of His soul that laid hold
upon the spiritual nature of multitudeS
of the people, and they believed in Him,
and followed Him, and sought for
knowledge and light from them, that He
might develop to them what manner of
Kingdom this was, and how they were
to enter upon its blessings and ENJOY
ments; how they were to inherit its
riches of promise, and how they were to
maintain themselves in integrity of citi-
Zenship and finally be crowned princes
of the House of Israel in the home of
their Father, God. And so it divided
, the wOrld-the doctrine of Jesus Christ
until at last the PhariseeS said among
themselves: "What are we doing?
What are we accomplishing? Why
arc we not beStirring ourselves: why
are we not setting up opposition to this
Jesus? What are we accomplishing in
the face of what he is doing, for the
whole world is taking after him?"
Blessed be God, Jesus did not come into
coihe into the world to establish king
dom like those of this earth. He did not
come into the world to set limits and
boundaries to temporal power. He did
not come into the world to divide it
with diSsensions and strife upon merely
human and territorial and property
lines. He came into the world to eStab-
lish that kingdom which the poet has
happily phrased:
You may see, if not soul fettered
By the binding bands of sin,
4; Your souls walls srlblimely lettered,
Heavens kingdom is within.
And the kingdom of God, it's metes
and bounds, its laws and purposes,
ITS JOYS AND BLESSINGS,
its prerogativeS and privileges, and the
duties that are reciprocal, the things
which God has promised to do to those
who are of his kingdom and the things
which he demands of those who enter
upon his kingdom. All these are as
tangibly known to men to-day as are the
circumstances and the laws and the
privileges and powers of any temporal
kingdom on earth. The great question
which agitateS Christian hearts, the
great desire which is firing the church
of Christ, the great anxiety which
weighs upon the heart of the ministry,
the great yearEing and signing which
takes possession of the conSecrated
souls of the true disciples of Christ
to-day is, why so many Of our fellow
men, so many of our loved ones, so
noble-hearted and the high-souled, the
aspiring and ambitious, the useful and
honorable of EARTH, refuse to come to
Jesus Christ, refuse to enter upon the
high and splendid privileges of the king
dom of God and will remain in the re-
giOnS of darkness, will remain Seduced
and tempted and held by the mere car
nal things of the earth, and prefer to
live in the turmoil and strife, and will
remain i'll all the contentious and dis
SenSionS of the Kingdoms OF this earth
and all the environments Of this paltry
life. When we look down upon these
vast concOurses that gather from time
to time i'll all parts Of the country to
hear the preaching of the word of God,
and look into the faces of multitudeS of
men, we are satisfied that the reason for
their continuing their enmity toward
God, for continuing aliens and strangers
to the kingdom Of God is not to be found
in tie fact that they do not recognize
there is q God. for whether we travel
around the globe, whether we come into
the highest state of civilization that is
seer upon tie face CT this earth, Or
whether we 20 into some CT the denSest
and darkest spots OH the continents OF
this globe, we find among all men Of al!
degrees Of intelligence aud enlightcI-
ment that there is something implanted
in them which tells them they must look
HIGHER THAN THEMSELVES,
they must look up 10 3oii:c one WHO is a
God over all, supreme, superior, all
wise all-rnling. Men know there is Il
God. There is SoiHcthing'n them that
tells them IL is true and it is ouly the
fool who has said in his heart, 'there is
no God" 1t is moi. because men Go not
believe in the mortality pf their souls,
for wherever WE 30 among men VIC find
this is an 0mnip; cseHt feeling ard cOH-
Tictinn Of human science, ''tliaL there is
something about lHe which shall live
longer than this mere flesh; something
about NE that is stronger than this
flesh" How easy il IS TO supply all
the demands Of tic flesh. How easily
right here i'll the city OF Minneapolis
can | satisfy all the demands that my
physical nature makes upon me. and
can pamper it, and can give it all the
enioyments it is possible for it to con-
tain. But how Insufficient is Mime
apoiis, how insufficient IS Minnesota,
how insufficient is tic United
States of America. how Insufficient
this whole WOrld-Mith Eli know ahnut